What the bakuchiol trials actually look like

This review looked for every published human trial of topical bakuchiol and found 15. It then assessed how well each was designed. Twelve were open-label with no control group, meaning everyone knew what they were using and there was nothing to compare against. Ten tested bakuchiol combined with other active ingredients, so any benefit cannot be attributed to bakuchiol specifically. Four did not report what concentration of bakuchiol they used. The studies were too varied to combine into a single analysis. The authors concluded that the trials lack methodological rigour and that better-designed research is needed. This does not mean bakuchiol is ineffective. It means the published evidence is not yet strong enough to say how effective it is.